diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/Lua/Marshaling/Version.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/Lua/Marshaling/Version.hs
index 3c667cbc4..f1d4bfd7f 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/Lua/Marshaling/Version.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/Lua/Marshaling/Version.hs
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ __tostring v = return (showVersion v)
 -- | Default error message when a version is too old. This message is
 -- formatted in Lua with the expected and actual versions as arguments.
 versionTooOldMessage :: String
-versionTooOldMessage = "version too old: expected version %s or newer, got %s"
+versionTooOldMessage = "expected version %s or newer, got %s"
 
 -- | Throw an error if this version is older than the given version.
 -- FIXME: This function currently requires the string library to be
diff --git a/test/lua/module/pandoc-types.lua b/test/lua/module/pandoc-types.lua
index 8c8d903d9..880dd567e 100644
--- a/test/lua/module/pandoc-types.lua
+++ b/test/lua/module/pandoc-types.lua
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ return {
         local expected = Version {2, 9}
         assert.error_matches(
           function () actual:must_be_at_least(expected) end,
-          'version too old: expected version 2.9 or newer, got 2.8'
+          'expected version 2.9 or newer, got 2.8'
         )
       end),
       test('does nothing if expected version is older than actual', function ()